"THE IRON MASK" AND ALL TALKIE SHORTS, MAJESTIC.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Volume 58, Issue 171, 21 August 1929, Page 2

"THE IRON MASK" AND ALL TALKIE SHORTS, MAJESTIC.

A new and revolutionary developnient in the use of soniul and speec-h will reacli th© screen in Douglas Fairbanks' "The Iron Mask." IVTiile the voice of Fairbanks Avill he lieard, there will be 110 dialogue. The spoken portions of the film will he in the.nature of soliloquies in which Doiig, irs D'Artagnan, -will address tlie auclience and speaking dircctly to tliem, tell the intents of tlie characters and the motivatkms for tlieir aetions. In this lnanner tlie audieuce beconies a part of the living play instcad of bystandors This mctliod, akin to the "eliorus" of the elassic drama rvas cliosen by Fairbanks as tbe Jogical and most artistic utilisation pf the sppken voice in a story whicli pictures tlie romantie glamour and pagcantry of 'a hygone daj-. Sound effects and musical synchronisation wnl be used througjiout the production and it is not difliculu to ijnagine the striking effects tlvat are possible in sueli a ronrance as "The Iron Mask." Besides D'Artagnan, two other famous characters. Riclielieu and de Rochefort, will talk. All three represent the vital motifs of tlie story. Maintaining tlie spjrit of tlie liistorical characters they portray, they emerge for a few moments from the picture, and explain to the audience their parts in the romanee and intrigues of tlie chivalrous days to the two Louis, father and son. Mr Fairbanks, as the valiant D'Artagnan, opens the story by gtepping from a tapestry, representiiig the four faitliful mu.sketeers, D'Artagnan, Atbos, .Portlips and Aramis, whose unswerving jove and loyalty survived death and joined them ih the greater adveutures which lie beyopd. Tn stirring words he invtfces the audience to journey witl) liiin to "the France of old, ivhon blood was young and hate was bold. For lqvo and lionour gloried tliem, • when like

was life and men were men. Thus he establisbes the spirit of dauntless youth and ageless romanee wlijcli dominates the story. As the thriUing tale of medieval adventui'e unfolds, Riclielieu -soliloquises, explaining the devotion to France, whieii actuated his plottings in the. intrigues of the c'hurch and state and his eft'orts to direct the destinies of liis c'ountry through the mastery of the weakling in onarcli , Louis XUI . cle Rochefort addresses the audience in burning words of hatrcd and revenge. He personiftes the menacing motif of destruetiqu which operates through the story in attempted defeat of the romanee oi D'Artagnan and the constructive connivances- of Richelieu. "The Iron Mask" is romantie drama, heroic in conception, dram'atic in tlieme and animate in spirit, witli a new sdund effect of A'ivid force. It marks a nnlestoue in the development of the synchronisatjon of sound and. sdence. It brings to* the screen an entirely new form of the talkies, The all talkie short subjects are Rebspikos Collegian Jazz Bau'd, the song of "The Volga Boatman," the Fmglisb Smgers and the latest World News. Seats may be reserved at the Bristol Piano Co. or by tlieatre 'phone 2708.